{"id":2957,"date":"2010-11-29T11:59:44","date_gmt":"2010-11-29T16:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timscogitorium.com\/tinblog\/?p=2957"},"modified":"2010-11-29T13:14:20","modified_gmt":"2010-11-29T18:14:20","slug":"is-wikileaks-a-terrorist-or-a-news-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timscogitorium.com\/tinblog\/2010\/11\/is-wikileaks-a-terrorist-or-a-news-organization.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Wikileaks a terrorist or a news organization?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Julian<\/a>
Wikileaks founder, journalist, and proto-terrorist Julian Assange (photo by New Media Days on Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The news is abuzz with the story of Wikileaks releasing some of the 250,000 State Department documents they acquired.\u00a0 Some, like Congressman Peter King, are claiming the release is worse than a military attack<\/a> and calling for Wikileaks to be treated as a terrorist organization.\u00a0 Others are touting Wikileaks founder Julian Assange as a hero<\/a> for shining light on covert government actions using the government’s own documentation.<\/p>\n

Clearly, some of the leaked documents are embarrassing, not only to the U.S. government, but to many foreign officials and diplomats as well.\u00a0 But by and large, the documents just confirm rumors and suspicions of activities widely believed to have been happening anyway.\u00a0 Is anyone truly shocked to learn that some diplomats are suspected to be spies<\/a>?\u00a0 Is it news that Middle Eastern countries other than Israel also view Iran as a growing threat<\/a>? Are people aghast that China was actually behind the Google Gmail hacks<\/a>?\u00a0 On the contrary, it could be seen as comforting to ordinary citizens that our leaders are not as blind to what’s going on as it would seem from the official press releases.<\/p>\n

While sunshine may be the best disinfectant, it’s hard to argue that some amount of secrecy isn’t required in order for the government to operate.\u00a0 The key is trying to figure out where to draw the line.<\/p>\n

The press was responsible for exposing information leaked from inside the government that resulted in the downfall of\u00a0 President Nixon in 1974.\u00a0 Were Woodward and Bernstein terrorists?\u00a0\u00a0 There’s no doubt the last decade would have played out much differently had the manufactured run-up to the Iraq War been exposed back in 2003.\u00a0 Those secrets needed sunshine.<\/p>\n

One of the recent Wikileaks releases shows that the President of Oman lied to his parliament<\/a> about attacks against Al-Qaeda within their borders.\u00a0 President Ali Abdullah Saleh covered up U.S. military strikes in Oman claiming instead that Omani forces carried out the attacks.\u00a0 From the perspective of the Omanis who were lied to, was this valuable sunshine?<\/p>\n

So far, no one has identified any specific released information that poses a danger to soldiers, diplomats, or anyone else, despite claims from the Pentagon<\/a> that Wikileaks has “blood on their hands.”\u00a0 In fact, there appears to have been some sort of self-censorship, coordinated by the NY Times,<\/a> to redact documents deemed to potentially endanger individuals or national security.\u00a0 Were some of the published documents over the line anyway?\u00a0 Probably, especially considering that everyone draws the line in a slightly different spot.\u00a0 But so far, indications are that all of the information released is at least close to the line, and thereby is much nearer to news than a terrorist action.<\/p>\n

If there are lessons to be learned from this, perhaps they are these:<\/p>\n